Computer systems configured as local area networks (LANs) have become evermore common during the last two decades and have now found wide-ranging use in businesses, schools and even homes. The most common LANs are client-server, in which one or more server processing devices provide programs and/or data to a larger number of client processing devices, and peer-to-peer, in which primarily data are shared among peer processing devices. The various networked processing devices are often hardwired together. By their nature, however, hardwired LANs do not allow the processing devices to be moved about easily.
Wireless local area networks (WLANs) provide the advantages of a LAN and allow device mobility by providing wireless connections between processing devices. Although the concept of a WLAN had been batted around for years in various technical forums, interest in WLANs remained theoretical until the U.S. government allocated the 2.4 GHz band for unlicensed use by industrial, scientific and medical (“ISM”) applications. WLAN processing devices built to operate in that band most often employ either direct sequence spread spectrum (“DSSS”) or frequency-hopping spread spectrum (“FHSS”) techniques to communicate between roaming mobile processing devices and network wireless access points (“WAPs”).
In a typical WLAN, one or more central servers are given an air interface by associated network WAPs. Each WAP includes a transceiver for communicating with at least one mobile processing device (including, but not limited to, a gaming system console, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant, or a notepad, desktop or laptop computer). Each mobile processing device establishes a communication link with a WAP by scanning the ISM band to find an available WAP. Once a reliable link is established, the mobile processing device is able to interact with other mobile processing devices, a server or both. This allows mobility for the mobile processing device without the length of a hardwired connection to the LAN limiting the movement.
The popularity and applications of WLANs have grown further with the approval of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Developed in the late 1990's, IEEE 802.11 provided guidelines to promote the interoperability and the creation of wireless products. An offshoot of IEEE 802.11, 802.11(b), commonly referred to as “Wi-Fi,” has increased the popularity by providing a higher data rate of 11 Mbps.
One area of development for WLANs has been the development of wireless networks in schools, hospitals, hotels and homes employing Wi-Fi. A standard home Wi-Fi WLAN may support a desktop and a few laptop computers. Another home Wi-Fi WLAN may provide wireless data on television sets throughout the home. This particular WLAN may permit the viewing of Wi-Fi data from games, computers or other wireless devices on each television set in the home.
Viewing on the television sets, however, requires that each television set be separately enabled to accept the Wi-Fi data. Often each television in a home is already connected to a cable network within the home. The home cable network is typically connected to a local cable network or a satellite receiver via a central node or box such as a cable box. Requiring Wi-Fi enabled television sets, therefore, results in an additional Wi-Fi network in parallel with the existing home cable network. Additionally, the parallel Wi-Fi network would not be backward compatible to non-enabled Wi-Fi television sets.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a more effective way to provide connectivity between wireless devices and televisions.